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Jul 17, 2023: So here we are on this epic trip sort of retracing our steps from 19 years ago. The first couple of days have been different than last time, but also …
Jul 15, 2023: I ❤️ Scoul, Switzerland. I was here 19 years ago and that began the best week of my life. Finally back and so grateful!! Love it here.
Jul 15, 2023: View behind me…
Jul 15, 2023: View in front of me…
Jul 15, 2023: Difference in air conditioning Europe vs. United States We are in Switzerland and it’s reasonable hot. The high today is 93 degrees Fahrenheit. When we are inside there is air conditioning, but compared to …
Feb 12, 2012: "If You Put All Of Us In A Blender You Get A Girlyman"* A big thing happened last night. A thing big enough to justify this blog coming back from the dead. Jamie, Jim Bernard, and I trekked down to the …
Dec 15, 2011: Best Of The Road - Part Two I’m back to finish the other blog post that I started a few months ago. When last I wrote about our summer vacation my family was deep in the …
Dec 8, 2011: The Lady's New Nose It’s been a long time, but I’m finally back to finish what I started. And speaking of finishing what I started, I should probably write …
Nov 10, 2011: She Went And Got A New Nose When we moved to our new house almost two years ago, I fell in love. I’ve never been in love with a house before. I moved around a lot as a kid …
Nov 4, 2011: A Couple Of Old Friends Meet Four Seasons Mall… It’s a traditional 80’s style strip mall. As a kid/teen, it was the closest “mall” to our house …
Nov 3, 2011: It's A Wrap October is over and done. The vegan challenge is over and done. So far I’m still eating vegan. I’m not sure why, I’m not sure what …
Oct 26, 2011: Day 26 of Vegfest The month is close to over and with that the vegan challenge. I’m still having a great time experimenting with vegan cuisine, but I’m a …
Oct 19, 2011: Veg Party! Okay, not really, but today is day 19 of the 30 day vegan challenge and I’m proud to report that both Jamie and I are still going strong. My …
Oct 13, 2011: The Kate Club Mazie has joined her first social club. It’s called “The Kate Club” and it’s quite exclusive. You must be a girl, garner an …
Oct 12, 2011: Day 12 Of The Veg! Here’s how I’m feeling on day 12…For the most part, all is well. I have begun to mourn the loss of certain foods, like cheese, but …
Oct 5, 2011: It's All Vegan In Here Welcome to day five of my and Jamie’s vegan challenge! So far, so good. I’ve known a lot of vegans and vegetarians over the years and for …
Sep 23, 2011: Best Of The Road - Part 1 On our recent family vacation, we did the most American of things…We hit the road for a week-long road trip. Because of my general fear of …
Sep 19, 2011: I'm Going Vegan Don’t get too excited everyone. It’s not happening right this minute and it’s not happening forever, but I’ve decided to try a …
Sep 12, 2011: I'm Back! I’ve been on hiatus for the past four weeks. I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but I’ve been gone. We went on vacation for a week and …
Aug 11, 2011: Larger Than The Hollywood Sign Okay, they aren’t really larger than the Hollywood Sign, but if Tyler stood on Mazie’s shoulders, they would be taller than me. Anyway, …
Aug 10, 2011: Cool Guy Alert Last Friday Mazie had a random act of kindness performed for her. We were at the Uptown Art Fair and had stopped into a tent to look at some cool …
Aug 9, 2011: Cake Store Is Open We have a Cake Store in our house. I know, how lucky could I be. And the best part is, so far all of the cakes are free. I was told that The Cake …
Aug 4, 2011: Large Enough To Drive From The Back Seat I’ve been a back seat driver for as long as I can remember. I think as young as sixteen I had opinions on routes, speed and general driving …
Aug 3, 2011: Larger Than A Pee-Infested Bit Of Potty Talk Mazie delights in potty talk. We have never had a strict rule forbidding its use. I’ve always figured it’s reasonably harmless and we have …
Aug 1, 2011: Childhood Stories Mazie loves stories; I guess most people do. She usually requests stories from when I was a kid. It’s always interesting to try and remember way …
Jul 28, 2011: U2 At TCF Bank Stadium I wish I could go again. It was that great… I saw my first U2 show in 1987. I was sixteen. It was magic. To date it was the best show …
Jul 27, 2011: Fifteen Minutes Give two kids fifteen minutes, a vacuum, a couch, and some bubble wrap and this is what you get. [gallery columns=“2”]
Jul 22, 2011: My Tribute To First Love As I was driving down the road today, I had a flash of my first love Bessie. She was a white 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis with blue cloth interior. …
Jul 20, 2011: Larger Than Mom's Running Shoes When the cat is away, the mouse will play or so the saying goes. Mazie was at a friend’s house for the afternoon and Tyler used his free time to …
Jul 18, 2011: Mill Valley Kitchen The latest in a long line of new restaurants to hit the Minneapolis dining scene is Mill Valley Kitchen on the corner of Excelsior and France Avenue …
Jul 15, 2011: Why A yBike? It’s now been a full week living with the yBike Pewi and a great week it has been. If you live with or know a one or two-year-old, read this and …
Jul 13, 2011: Smaller Than A Large Vegetarian Welcome to installment 2 of my Let’s-Eat-Better-Plan. Installment 1 was the first step, admitting the problem. With step 2 I want to start work …
Jul 11, 2011: Larger Than A Banana-Shaped Candy I distinctly remember my grade school lunches. Mom would give me money to buy hot lunch, I would pocket the money, and choose cash over food. In …
Jul 9, 2011: Music To My Ears My husband is a pretty cool guy. Turns out he has some pretty cool ideas in his head as well. He told me several years ago that the best way to change …
Jul 8, 2011: Snippets From A Friday 8:30am - Tyler finds a magnetic paper doll in his closet. He calls it baby (uttering his first two-syllable word ever!), gives it a kiss, and plays …
Jul 6, 2011: Smaller Than A Grass-Fed Cow I’ve thought a lot about what I put in my mouth over the last 20 years, but all of that thinking hasn’t resulted in much change. …
Jun 30, 2011: Peas And Thank You I’ve been scared away from blogging lately. I came across Peas and Thank You, a brilliant blog that is very popular and I think, really funny. …
Jun 17, 2011: The Curious Garden Last year I bought Mazie a book called The Curious Garden. It’s about a boy who starts a garden on an old abandoned railroad that is elevated …
Jun 16, 2011: "B" Is For Barn After having such a great experience staying at a barn last month, it makes me want to try these two barn environments even more. I came across Lake …
Jun 13, 2011: Larger Than A Cat Wearing Swim Goggles Mazie might not be older, but she’s definitely bigger than our 20+ year old cat Gypsie. Gypsie is in liver failure and will need to be put to …
Jun 3, 2011: Lanesboro I have a little love affair with a town named Lanesboro, Minnesota. It’s located about an hour’s drive past Rochester in South Eastern …
Jun 1, 2011: Lowbrow The name conjures up all type of images, but probably not a hip new eatery in South Minneapolis. Two women who met in the kitchen of Birchwood a …
May 29, 2011: You Say Your Boulders Need A Holder? If you find yourself with a well-endowed chest, a desire to perform vigorous exercise and no bra that sufficiently quells the bounce, I have a …
May 27, 2011: A Barn On A Bluff One of my favorite past-times is searching for places to visit. I like to find an area and then a place to stay, but sometimes I find a place to stay …
May 14, 2011: Sun Street Breads My new favorite spot for breakfast or lunch is Sun Street Breads. It’s owned and run by Solveig Tofte who baked for Turtle Bread for many years …
May 13, 2011: The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side I walk Mazie to and from school most days. It’s a short walk, not more than five blocks, and we both really enjoy it. When we moved to …
Apr 29, 2011: FORTY That’s right, I’m forty now. Here’s how I think and feel at forty. First off, I feel forty. In my twenties and my early thirties, I …
Apr 23, 2011: Rustica And The Best Eclair For as long as I can remember I’ve been a fan of sweet things that aren’t too sweet, have chocolate, but not too much chocolate, and have …
Apr 16, 2011: Larger Than An Uh-Oh [gallery columns=“4”] Tyler is now 14 months old. He walks, points, grunts and says three words: uh-oh, hi and yay. At this point in her …
Apr 14, 2011: Larger Than Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo Mazie’s new way to decide everything is eeny-meeny-miny-mo. What shirt to wear, who should put her to bed, which food should she eat first, the …
Apr 10, 2011: Small Is An Empire, But Not An Empire Builder - The Final Small In A Short Lineage Of Small Etsy is small gone big. A crap-load of small businesses use Etsy’s platform to sell their wares. I love Etsy. I first went there several years …
Apr 9, 2011: Small Can Build An Empire - The Third Installment Of Small In my continuing homage to small, we take a look next at Scot Pampuch. The man is a small force to be reckoned with. He owns a small restaurant, The …
Apr 8, 2011: The Special Of Small - The Second In A Small Series Of Small New Glarus makes great beer. At least that’s what people who like beer tell me. If you are in Wisconsin, check it out. New Glarus Brewing …
Apr 7, 2011: Small Is The New Cute I’ve always liked small. Small is cute. Baby animals, babies, small bottles of shampoo, miniature whatever, it’s all good. Small business …
Mar 10, 2011: Larger Than An American Idol Dream I’ve never been a Jennifer Lopez person. I know who she is, I don’t live under a rock, but I couldn’t tell you the name of any of …
Feb 16, 2011: Larger Than A One-Year-Old I had a baby, then I had a blog, then I had another baby and now that another baby is ONE plus four days! The newest arrival is a never-stand-still, …
Feb 6, 2011: The Good Woman Me and the Mister were in Bayfield, Wisconsin for a little R&R in July of 2009. Since then, there has been a new baby and a move, but otherwise …
Mar 6, 2009: The New Resolution Almost every hotel you visit now-a-days features a little sign in the bathroom about saving the environment. If you want to use your towels again and …
Oct 3, 2008: Three Cups of Tea I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, a book detailing the work of Greg Mortenson to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I can’t …
Oct 2, 2008: Larger Than A Compliment I’m not big on doling out compliments. If I give someone a compliment, it’s usually because they have done, said, worn, or whatever …
Aug 26, 2008: A Tale of Three Buses Once upon a time there were three buses. Bus number one was a lovely white bus that drove Tammy and Rosalin to Liverpool. It did its thing in the …
Jul 20, 2008: The Fat Lady Sings....again! When last I wrote it was Saturday. Today it’s Sunday. Yesterday I was wrecked with the perilous decision, to race or not to race. Should I risk …
Jul 19, 2008: The Fat Lady Sings Okay, it’s time to publicly admit it, I’ve been getting fat for awhile now. For those who’ve known me a long time, the ever-changing …
Jul 18, 2008: Winnipeg Wrap-Up We spent last weekend at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. This was my fourth year and in some bizarre and strange way, this may have been my favorite …
Jul 17, 2008: Yum! It struck me that while we were on our trip I spent a lot of time writing about restaurants and food. Here at home I also pay a lot of attention to …
Jul 9, 2008: The man in the pants Jamie has always wanted to be the “man in the pants”. The ultra-cool-without-trying yoga guy who wears billowy poet shirts made of linen …
Jul 8, 2008: Dog Days of Summer The dogs were away and then the dogs were back. Now the dogs are here and I am once again cohabiting with Mr. Exuberance and Ms. Strange. I …
Jul 7, 2008: Here comes the bride A quick shout out to the newlyweds, Kurt and Rosalin (Jamie’s mom/my mom-in-law). Happy wedding, happy marriage and happy Java. Thanks for a fun …
Jul 7, 2008: A brief return to consumerism I’ve tried to mend my ways over the last couple of years and halt my seemingly endless desire for stuff. I think the brakes have been rather …
Jul 6, 2008: Off the road The road trip is officially over. We are back home, unpacked and readjusting to a life of the comfort and responsibility of home. Tomorrow marks the …
Jul 1, 2008: What I learned at the Ranch I still like riding horses. At this point in her life Mazie isn’t a huge fan of kid camp. Kids get really tired after a week of kid camp. Jamie …
Jun 28, 2008: Ride 'Em Cowboy! We are spending a week at the C Lazy U Ranch to wrap up our road trip. Our friends Kent and Maril and their kids joined us for the week. Getting back …
Jun 24, 2008: Larger than a Canon 40D Jamie wields a camera most of the time, most of the place and I’m often with a camera. Mazie decided the other day that she was sick of her no …
Jun 23, 2008: Hubba-Hubba-Wowsers That’s my impression of Arches National Park just outside of Moab, UT. I’m not sure if I should feel shameful that until yesterday …
Jun 20, 2008: Pizza, Pizza My taste buds were in complete shock and awe this evening (in a good way). We dined at the New Jersey Pizza Company in Flagstaff, AZ and it was …
Jun 20, 2008: Gross Sighting Yesterday at the pool I spotted a booger floating in the water: Gross! I felt some sort of sick need to photograph and share it with the rest of you.
Jun 17, 2008: Larger than a Beetle I never would have guessed it, but Mazie digs toy cars. She’s picked up two on the trip, a rad VW microbus decked out with peace signs and …
Jun 16, 2008: You had to be there Guy, sitting by himself at a upscale, but casual restaurant. He’s reading a book, regular size paperback. He makes a call on his cell phone and …
Jun 16, 2008: Quotes from the road...3rd Installment Yesterday, at the Shark Reef Aquarium, Mazie saw a bunch of fish schooling. She said, “Mom, look, a class!”
Jun 14, 2008: Larger than a two year old That’s right, Mazie is now three! Today was the big day and she celebrated in true Mazie fashion: a pool visit, strawberries, mac and cheese, …
Jun 11, 2008: Big Sur packs a wallop Today has restored my faith in “the vacation”. I must admit over the last few days I’ve grown weary and last night as I was trying …
Jun 11, 2008: SF + TKT = :-( I know San Francisco is a great city and so I figure there was something out of whack with me during our visit. It’s not that I had a horrible …
Jun 10, 2008: Deep-Fat Fried I’m feeling like a horrible mom. I tend to be pretty blasé about certain things and the sun is one of those things. I know, I know, not putting …
Jun 8, 2008: Would you like some plastic with that - Update! I’ve come across three more instances of biodegradable, starch-made plastic on our drive down the coast and I thought I should share. The West …
Jun 8, 2008: Wiki Sticks If you are looking for an interesting craft project to do with kids, may I introduce the Wikki Stix. Mazie was gifted a few Wikki Stixs at a …
Jun 5, 2008: Larger than a piece of poop Warning: If you are easily offended or have a problem with stories of poop, even cute three year old pooping stories, please do not read any further. …
Jun 4, 2008: Larger than a woman's butt Jamie has handed the camera over to Mazie on a couple of occasions and I think during her brief encounters she has managed to log almost 1,000 …
Jun 4, 2008: Face to Face with a Redwood... or maybe that should be face to foot with a redwood. Yes, they are tall, majestic and grand. Yes, I felt tiny and timid in the midst of such …
Jun 3, 2008: I'm still smaller than a redwood This blog started 571 days ago, thanks to our crazy, lovable landscaper Ann. We were talking one night on the phone and she said, “At least …
Jun 2, 2008: Thoughts on Portland Best thing about Portland: FOOD! The place is chalk full of interesting, unique, locally owned, eco-conscious, yummy eating establishments. …
May 31, 2008: A rare day of foot-loose and fancy-free A few days ago Maril and I had 12 hours of kid-free, unstructured time on our hands. I’m here to report that it’s pretty easy, fun and …
May 31, 2008: Omnivore's Dilemma Omnivore’s Dilemma is one of my favorite books that I’ve read in the recent past. I heard a couple of talks on the radio with the author …
May 31, 2008: A Homeless Lady Today we were at the Portland Saturday Market eating lunch and there was a woman sitting next to us who was eating some leftover food that other …
May 31, 2008: Quotes from the Road...2nd Installment Yesterday at breakfast Mazie commented that she was cold and I replied that I was too. She looked at Jamie and asked him if he was cold; he shook his …
May 30, 2008: Litter and it will hurt We came across this sign a couple of days ago on the way to the zoo in Seattle. I had to take a picture and offer up a quick post. I’ve never …
May 29, 2008: My Favorite Hotel Ever!!!! Lots of favorites lately and another to add to the list. We stayed for one night at the Kennedy School just outside of Portland, Oregon. The Kennedy …
May 28, 2008: These are a few of my favorite things...Seattle I’d never been to Seattle before; now I have. We, me and the family had lots of fun traversing the city, mainly on foot. We checked out …
May 26, 2008: Would you like some plastic with that? I think plastic is evil, but wondrous. It doesn’t break, it’s cheap, light-weight and can be fashioned into most anything. Think what you …
May 25, 2008: Aqua Here’s the deal: I’m a water snob. If bottled water wasn’t bad for you, me and the planet, I’d happily sip, sip, sip bottles …
May 24, 2008: Quotes from the Road Mazie confirms suspicions that she’s a little bit weird by reciting for 5 minutes in the car all of the various parts of “dad” that …
Apr 19, 2008: Resolution - Resolved! To you the faithful reader of this seldom written blog, I have personal progress to report: Big Smith has been seen, heard, experienced. After careful …
Jan 10, 2008: i am resolute the man kept asking me what my new year’s resolution was. the thing is, i don’t do the whole resolution thing. this idea that this year …
May 21, 2007: one cold and windy sunday yesterday at 8:30am i found myself at the starting line of the gear west duathlon. i was feeling very lucky to have made it there since fifteen …
May 19, 2007: larger than a piece of chocolate cake mazie is really into her toes. she spends at least 30 minutes a day examining the space between each toe. sometimes while trying to change her diaper …
May 19, 2007: buddy j - a.k.a. the husband today my buddy turns 35. since it’s his special day i thought he deserved a special post. happy birthday buddy! …well, he turned 35 a …
May 19, 2007: the green lantern “just wait until i bring this to a meeting and everyone has their red lights and i’ll have my green light. the most awesomest thing …
Dec 16, 2006: Mr. Coffee Grapefruit Coke Beer Guest post: brickermc is a working companion of the husband. “brickermc” and the husband get coffee together almost daily. He is a slight …
Dec 10, 2006: if you hit me again, i'll hit you back 10 times harder... this was a popular refrain in my childhood. i was four years younger than my older sister and i loved to taunt her. in turn, she loved to hit me back …
Nov 30, 2006: toilet paper i intended this website to be full of interesting topics and discussion. what seems to be happening so far is that i talk about things that …
Nov 29, 2006: larger than a 5 x 7 picture frame like the song, mazie has a few favorite things. however, her favorite things do not include girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes …
Nov 19, 2006: part of something today at 8:05am the husband, the kid and myself walked into target to get some wii action. (for those of you not in the know, which would be me if not …
Nov 15, 2006: Doggone it Guest post: this is my lovely sister angie. she is quite a bit younger than me and quite a bit taller than me and almost always in a sunshiney mood. …
Nov 14, 2006: all grown-up i remember watching the made for television movie “the day after” when i was 10 or so. it was a movie about an atomic bomb being dropped …
Nov 12, 2006: larger than a mushroom that’s what my kid is. she’s a crazy one year old that can’t sit still and is in a state of constant flux. she’s great and she …
Nov 11, 2006: yeah, that's right, i'm smaller than a redwood... and so is my landscaper friend, Ann. We came to this realization while talking on the phone, and poof a blog was born.
Sep 17, 2006: From the Mouth of Babes or Tammy's as it were... Jamie asked me to write something on this blogity-blog and so here I am. I asked what he wanted me to write and he asked for reflections about the …
Jun 24, 2006: ARR! Tammy here again… One week ago today, Mazie had a blast at her very first birthday party. All of our family that lives in town were invited and …
Jun 14, 2006: Mazie's Birthday Hello, Tammy here. It was Mazie’s first birthday today! Whee… I have been looking forward to this day since before she was born. I …
Jul 30, 2004: Tammy Speaks Jamie is always clicking and clacking away at this thing and that’s great…the man can’t get enough of the ‘puter. I decided …